This invention relates to the hydroprocessing of heavy hydrocarbon feedstocks, such as heavy gas oils, reduced crudes, and hydrocarbon residua. More particularly, it relates to a novel process for the hydroprocessing of heavy hydrocarbon feedstocks, which process employs a pipe reactor. The pipe reactor may be present in one or more sections or stages.
Today there are various processes employing numerous refining techniques which are used by petroleum refiners to upgrade the petroleum fractions obtained from the petroleum crudes. These processes, such as isomerization, reforming, hydrocracking, and alkylation are well-known in the art and may be used successfully to convert various hydrocarbon fractions into useful products. However, such processes do not convert effectively the higher-boiling feedstocks and fractions into sufficient quantities of usable products, such as motor fuels and heating fuels. Among these higher-boiling hydrocarbons are the heavy gas oils, lubricating oils, and hydrocarbon residua. Such fractions, in particular, hydrocarbon residua, have not been exploited fully by the refiner. Attempts to refine these heavy materials have shown, for the most part, that the processing must be done at such high severities that such processing is unattractive. These refractory materials give relatively low yields of usable products.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a process that can be used effectively and efficiently to convert the refractory fractions, such as higher-boiling gas oils and residual hydrocarbons, to more usable products.
In the past, the heavier hydrocarbon fractions, such as hydrocarbon residua, have been hydroprocessed, in general, by one of two methods: (1) a method employing a fixed-bed trickle-phase system, and (2) a method employing an ebullating-bed reactor system. Now there has been developed a process which converts effectively the refractory, higher-boiling petroleum fractions. This process employs a pipe reactor.